Maria Turner

Miss Maria Turner
Name:	Maria Turner Great Aunt Maria Aunt Maria The Great-Aunt The GA Miss Turner
Gender:	Female
Birthdate:
height:
Position:	Guardian of Molly Turner and James Turner
Loyalty:	Turner family Blackett family Miss Huskisson
Enemies:	Miss Thornton of Crag Gill
Native Residence:	Harrogate
Future career:
Appearances:	SD, PM

Maria Turner disembarking from Scarab on to the Beckfoot lawn (PM29)

Maria Turner, also known as Great Aunt Maria, Aunt Maria and The GA is the sister of Grandfather Turner, aunt of Jim Turner and Molly Blackett, and Nancy Blackett's and Peggy Blackett's great aunt. She lives at Harrogate.

Aye she's come...and trouble with her. Girt auld hen 'at wants to be cock o' t' midden. (Cook, PM6)

Early life

It is known that Maria spent some of her youth near the Lake, since she knew Tommy Jolys when he was a child (see Tin Trumpet Incident).

Maria Turner became the guardian of Molly Turner and Jim Turner presumably on the deaths of their parents, Grandfather and Grandmother Turner. She brought them up or was looking after them (SD3,27); with the help of Mrs Lewthwaite, who used to be mother's nurse, and she was our nurse too when we were very young (Nancy, SA24).

Estrangement from Blackett family

Maria apparently disapproved of the way Molly and Bob Blackett brought the Amazons up. Nancy tells the Swallows how Maria dragged (the subject of Nancy's and Peggy's) father in (to a conversation) and made mother cry, although Uncle Jim said Bob would have liked them as they are (SD17). This led to Titty's candle-grease incident.

Following Bob's death, Maria continued to visit the Blackett family at Beckfoot regularly but these visits were not enjoyed by her hosts. Her nephew and niece agreed never to have her visit except in term time (PM3). She seems to have a degree of entry as-of-right at Beckfoot, a position she may hold as the Turner family's pseudo-matriarch, even if such status is only begrudgingly granted to her:

She jolly well shan't sleep in Mother's bed. (Nancy, PM3)

After Mother tells Roger what a Great Aunt is, she tells them that "Mrs Jackson at Holly Howe wanted to start cleaning the whole farm up as soon as she heard Miss Turner was coming" with Molly and Jim to see Mrs Walker (SD2). Later after Mother tells the Swallows about the visit "to know what we were like" but does not say any more, Titty says to John "Mother doesn't like her either""' (SD15).

In PM29 the police sergeant says My word, she is a tartar, that old lady, and in (SD13) she has gone to the head of the lake to tell the vicar how things used to be done. She's heard he's doing some things differently.

Associates

• Miss Huskisson, whose usual summer routine was to visit Miss Turner and take the waters at Harrogate (PM30)
• Miss Thornton of Crag Gill, with whom Maria has had a falling-out

Appearances

• Swallowdale
• The Picts and the Martyrs, subtitled 'Not Welcome at All'
• mentioned in Secret Water, compared with Aunt Helen (SW11)
• According to Brogan (Life page 336) on the writing of Coot Club: Thinking of the villain, the treacherous Norfolk Coot, he wrote that George Owdon must never be heard to speak throughout the book (like the G.A. in Swallowdale) but seen.

possible appearance

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You are standing into danger. This article or section contains conjecture.

In Swallows and Amazons: the Amazons had promised to be home for lunch (yesterday) (SA10), and we've been late for supper twice this week (SA11). Later Mother had a party last night at home ... and there are people coming today ... (who) we have to be best-frocked for (SA22).

It has been speculated that the Amazons were preventing from camping on the island during the early part of the book by the presence at Beckfoot of the dreaded Great-Aunt, although there does not appear to be any explicit mention of her in (SA). Captain Flint has been busy writing Mixed Moss by a Rolling Stone over summer.